John bowles



(No Model.) I

v 2Sheeta-Bheet '1'. J. BOWLES.

ROTARY CUTTER.

' No. 244,845. Patented July 26,1881.-

Mtneoweq:

(No' lodl.)

1 2 Sheath-Sheet 2. J. BOWLES.

ROTARY CUTTER.

No. 244,845. Patented Jul ze, 1881.

N. PETERS. MW, Via-Magma. D. C.

UN TE STATES,

PATENT F JOHN BOWLES, or WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF ooLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR OFcrn-nnn-nounrn's TQ ASA WHITEHEAD, on SAME rLAoE.

, noTA RY CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION fdrmi ngfpart of Letters Patent no. 244,845, dated July26, 1881. Application filed May 31,1ss0. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: r

Be it known that I, JOHN Bo Lns, a citizen of the United States,residing at Washington,

in the county of Washington and District; of Columbia, have inventedcertain newanduseq ful Improvements in Machines for 'Slittin'g Sheets ofPaper; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear,andexact descrip-' tion of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make" and use the same,reference being had to the accompanyin g drawings, and to letters orfigures of reference marked th ereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

Figure 1 of the drawings-is a longitudinal sectional view of my improvedmachine taken through the line :vxof Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a front view ofthe same, partlyin section. Fig. 3 is a side view, showing the operatinggearing. Fig. 4 is side and sectional views of the circular cutter..Fig. 5'is an enlarged view" of a single tooth of the circular cutterand sections of the same.

This invention relates to certain improvements in machinery adapted forslitting paper commonly called perforating --for example,

sheets of stamps, check-books,and other articles of like nature in whichit is desirable "to make one part easily separable from the remainder,and by means'of which the paper can subsequently be separated along thelineof slits' by hand. t y i The paper-perforatin g machines now in useare faulty and are not entirely satisfactory.

In the Howard machine an upper roller provided with a plurality, ofpunches arranged on the periphery, in combination with a lowerroller'having a plurality of holes for the reception of the punches, anda horizontal stripper areempl oyed. I This machine is objectionableforseveral reasons, among which may be stated, first, that the sheets areperforated thus: 0 O O-'causingthesheets to stick orcatch in packingupon each other by the burrs on the under side projectinginto orsticking'upon the burrs on 'those above; second, the punches do notalways remove the wads from the sheets; third, the holes in the lowerroller wear and become too large in a short time for the'punches; andfourth, the metallicstrippers arranged being out are used.

tween the rollers are subject to great friction and wear out in a fewdays.

In the McAleer machine two disk-knives having their peripheries brokenby radial slots and arranged on parallel shafts so that theyshall'overlap and penetrate the interposed sheet fromopposite sides andproduce a shear- This machine is also objec-.

tionable for the reason that the disk-shaped knives, being alike, haveto be nicely and accurately adjusted, so that the radial slots forforming the partitions between the cuts may evenly register with eachother in their rotary motion, also when either of the cutters becomesfdrunk or out of true on the Shaft they will fail to coact in producinga neat cut, and the corners of the radial slots are liable to lock andbreak the intermediate portions, thereby destroying both cutters.

Again, a'machine has been patented in which the combination of a lowergrooved wheel and an upper roller with a series of M-shaped teeth forpunching the paper, so that in making a perforationthus: l:1-the ends ofa tooth will cut across the paper at the ends of the perforationprevious to punching out the intermediate' portion. A machine of thisconstruction, to the best of my knowledge, has not been adopted, for thereason that the perforations produced by it do not suit the taste of thetrade. I

p Also, a patent has been granted for a rotary or circular cutter havingsaw-shaped teeth with incisions at intervals, and of a depth extendingbelow the teeth to cause filaments between the line of incisions, thusfor the purpose of retaining the sheets together during theprocess offolding, and to facilitate the opening of the folded sheets by simplypassing the finger or hand between the Same and separating the filamentsthat hold the sheets together. It is obvious that a rotary cutter ofthis construction could not be'used on fine work without incurring thedanger of tearing the sheets and causing a loss.

In viev; of; the facts that the present ma chines are liable at times totear and destroy Lthe sheets (during the operation of perforatingmasters, pension-agents, and internal-revenue officers require materialof the kind to which this invention relates to have the separating orparting line formed by means of slits instead of the ordinary perforatedline, the main object of my improvementis to produce. by lancetpointedteeth, a series of narrow slits or cuts barely visible to the naked eyein a sheet of paper, and which renders it capable of being readilysevered on the line of consecutive interstices, and also delivering theslit sheets from the machine in condition to be compactly packed uponeach other, and be easily handled and readily counted without stickingorcatching to one another.

The improvements therefore consist in a rotary cutter having teeth of apeculiar construction.

It also consists, in combination with the rotary cutter, of elasticbands arranged on the periphery of the roller on opposite sides of thecutter in such a manner as to form an elastic feedingsurface and tostrip the sheet from the teeth.

It also consists in the combination and arran gement of parts, as willbe hereinafter more fully set forth and specifically claimed.

A is the bed of the machine, to which side frames, B B, are attached.These frames carry in suitable journal-boxes the shafts G O and D D. Thefirst of these shafts, O, is preferably that to which the power forpropelling the machine is applied, and this may be by means of ahand-crank or any other device by which it can be connected to asuitable motor. Upon this shaft 0 are secured the rollers or rolls E, innumber suited to the work required, by means of set-screws a, passingthrough ahub upon one side of the roll, or they may be held in place byany equivalent device.

The letter 1) represents my improved cutter formed from an annulus ofsteel, and having upon its periphery the triangular-shaped teeth b. Eachtooth is sharpened to a cutting-edge from the base to the point, beingdressed toward the edges from a line running through the point andcenter of the base, and also dressed from the sides of the annulus fromthe line of the base of the tooth in the direction of the point, so thatthe tooth tapers to a point from all points of its base, as seen inFigs. 4 and 5 of the drawings. This dressing of the tooth on the sidespresenting curved surfaces, as shown in the cross-sections of Fig. 5, issimilar to the dressing of lancet-points; hence the term laucet-point inthis specification. These lancet-shaped teeth easily but lightlypenetrate or puncture the sheet, making rows of clean cuts in andthrough the paper without removing any particles thereof. The cutter isplaced upon the shaft 0 against the straight side of the roll-section E,and held in place by the collar E, an additional part of the roll, whichis brought against the perforator, and the whole securely clampedtogether by the screws M, which pass through the collar and cutter andscrew into the part E, thus forming a slitting-roll with thelancet-shaped teeth of the cutter, which is of greater diameter than theroll projecting fromits periphery.

Around the periphery of each roll-section E and collar E is arranged anelastic band, as indicated by dark lines, the thickness of which, whenarranged on opposite sides of the cutter, shall correspond with theheight of the teeth or slightly below, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of thedrawings, and act as strippers in throwing off the sheet from the teethof the cutter, substantially as shown in Fig 1. The rubber bandsarranged on opposite sides of the rotary cutter, as described and shown,also constitute an elastic feeding-surface for the roller, therebypreventing any possible liability of the rollers tearing or destroyingthe sheets being acted upon. The arrangement of the rollers is such thatthe pressure at the point of contact compresses the elastic band, so asto allow the teeth to protrude. It is obvious that as the teeth act uponthe material the elastic band yields to allow the teeth to perform theirduty, and as the material, after slitting, advances with the roll it isremoved by the band returning to its normal condition, substantially asshown in Fig. 1.

By the employment of a rotary cutter havin g its teeth arranged andshaped as described and shown I am enabled to make clean cuts in thesheet without the formation of objectionable burrs and make the slits soclose and narrow that when the sheet is torn apart at the line ofseparation the edges of the pieces will be comparatively smooth.

The shaft 0 is placed beneath the shaft 0 and carries thereceiving-rolls F, in number corresponding to the number ofslitting-rolls employed. These rolls are also secured upon their shaftsby set-screws a in the same manner as the slitting-rolls, so that theymay be readily moved and secured at any desired distance from each otheras the requirements of the work to be done may demand. In the peripheryof each of these rolls F is formed the annular groove D which, when themachine is in operation, receives the projecting teeth of the cutter b.It will therefore be apparent that when a sheet of paper or othermaterial is passed through the rolls, as shown in Fig. 3 of thedrawings, the lancet-shaped teeth of the cutter will pass through thepaper into the groove b forming a line or series of slits, and that anyfailure of the roll F to register with the slitting-roll in its rotationwill not endanger the teeth of the cutter, as they will always enter thegroove, no matter what the relative speed of the rolls may be 3 but inorder to secure as near an equal rotation as possible the shafts O and Uare provided with and have firmly secured thereto the gear-wheels G andG, the teeth of which engage, and,were it not for the lost motion orbacklash accompanying the use of such gears, would secure a perfectlysynchronous movement of the two shafts.

The drawing-rolls H H are mounted upon the shafts D D, placed a shortdistance in the rear of the slitting-rolls. These drawing-rolls arerotated by means of the gear-wheels I I, secured to the shafts D Dthrough the idle 5 pinion J, turning upon a stud, 0, attached to theside frame of the machine, said idler receiving its motion from the gearG upon the shaft 0. The object of these rolls is to draw the paper fromthe slitting-rolls and to prevent its adhering to the latter, therebybecoming torn and arresting for a time the operation of the machinewhile it is'cleared from the fragments, and reduce any burr that may bei made by slitting-rollers, and may be heated by steam or gas.

A feeding-table or other suitable apparatus, K, is attached to the framein front of the slitting-rolls, from which the sheets of paper are fedto the machine, either by hand or one of the many feeding devicesheretofore employed for similar purposes. Y It will be seen that thejournal-boxes of th shaft 0 are provided with adjusting-screws d, bywhich they are so adjusted as to cause the surfaces of theslitting-rolls and rolls F to bear upon the material passing betweenthem with sufficient force to make them act as feeding-rolls; and, astheir peripheries move at the same speed as that of the drawing-rolls,it is evident that the paper or other material will be kept straight inits course through the machine and be delivered by the drawing-rollswithout danger of mutilation and consequent loss during its passage. 5What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The rotary cutter hereinbefore described, having its slitting orpuncturing teeth sharpened to a cutting-edge from the base to the 40point, dressed toward the edges from a line running through the pointand the center of the base, dressed on the sides of the annulus from theline of the base of the teeth to the point, whereby each tooth tapers toa point 5 from all points of its base, as described.

2. In combination with a circular cutter, one or more elastic bandsarranged on one or both sides of the circular cutter, serving a twofoldpurpose -to wit, an elastic feeding-surface and a stripper-substantiallyas hereinbefore ,described. e

3. The combination of the lower peripherally-grooved receiving-rollerand the upper roller carrying a centrally-arranged circular cutterhaving a series of slitting or puncturing teeth of the constructiondescribed, and provided with elastic bands arranged on opposite sides ofthe circular cutter, serving a twofold purpose-to wit, an elasticfeeding-surface to the roller, and strippers for removing the sheetsfrom the upper roller-substantially as described.

4. A combined feeding and slitting roller having the centrally-arrangedcircular cutter provided with the lancet-shaped teeth and elastie bandsarranged on opposite sides of the circular cutter, the upper surfaces ofwhich are flush with or extend slightly beyond the point of the teeth,as described, and for the purpose set forth.

5. In combination with the lower peripherally-grooved receiving-rollerand the upper roller carrying the centrally-arranged rotary cutterprovided with the slitting or puncturing teeth of the constructiondescribed, and having elastic bands arranged on opposite sides oftherotary cutter and acting as elastic feeding-surface and strippers, thedrawing-rolls arranged in rear of the slitting-rollers for the purposeof reducing the burrs formed by the cutters, and other results, ashereinbefore described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

J N 0. BO WLES.

, Witnesses:

A. G. HEYLMUN, D. D. KANE.

